As cloud continues to soar in popularity there are some that are still some out there that remain skeptical about tapping into this resource.
Some database administrators (DBAs) think that public clouds are neither capable of meeting the demands often placed on relational database management systems nor secure enough to house personally identifiable information (PII).
Because of this, the use of a public cloud for database deployments is an option many DBAs are unwilling to explore.
But, after a few years of using the cloud for other applications, companies are finding that the benefits of cloud computing – faster access to infrastructure, greater scalability, and higher availability top the list – are living up to expectations set by cloud providers.
DBTA recently held a webinar with Roger E. Sanders, Db2 offering manager at IBM, who discussed why DBAs should be thinking about the cloud and provide an overview of IBM's Db2 cloud offerings: Db2 Hosted, Db2 on Cloud, and Db2 Warehouse on Cloud.
There are several ways in which DBAs can take advantage of cloud computing:
- Support new development and testing initiatives without having to maintain multiple development and test environments
- Support proof of concept (POC), prototype, and pilot projects
- Mitigate risks for unplanned downtime while keeping infrastructure costs to a minimum
- Consolidate smaller on-premises databases
According to the RightScale 2017 State of the Cloud Report, even though the numbers are coming down, lack of resources/expertise, security/compliance, and managing cloud spend are still at the top of the list of concerns organizations have about moving to the cloud, Sanders explained.
IBM’s Db2 cloud offerings can address customers’ concerns:
- Lack of resources/expertise - Need is greatly diminished because IBM provisions & manages the hardware, installs and maintains the software (OS and Db2), and manages the database environment (Db2 on Cloud and Db2 Warehouse on Cloud ) .
- Security/compliance - Root access to the server is prevented - Db2 Native Encryption ensures that data is encrypted as it is written to disk - Use of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology ensures that the transfer of data between applications and the database is always done via an encrypted link.
- Managing cloud spend - Available via pay-as-you-go or subscription model (Db2 Hosted) - Flexible pricing based on RAM, CPU, and storage needed (Db2 on Cloud and Db2 Warehouse on Cloud.
An archived on-demand replay of this webinar is available here.